Criminals
(This page was largely the work of the late '''Dennis Tallett', an original B&B contributor.)'' During the SPENSER series there have been 186 crooks, strong arms, shooters, sluggers and other sundry low-lifes, an unspecified number of Russians and the forty sleazy followers of The Preacher in Potshot. Several of the big shots reappear throughout the series and are recognized only once in this survey for the final count. When the strong-arms, soldiers, gofers, muscle, bodyguards, enforcers, collectors and sluggers are subtracted from the equation there are just about 53 crooks-in-charge and pimps-in-charge who run their respective businesses, give the orders or, if they are a one-man business, simply pull the trigger. They are shown in bold and are counted once only in the total count of 53. The breakdown of the grand total, book by book, is as follows: The Godwulf Manuscript *'Joe Broz.' A cool, medium league crook who surfaces in several books. He supplies a new market, the University *Albert J. Brooks. A muscle for Joe Broz. *Sonny. Another muscle. *Sully Roselli. A gofer for Joe Broz. *Phil. A henchman for Joe Broz. God Save the Child *'Vic Harroway'. Kidnapper, pimp manager and breaks heads. *'Dr. Ray Croft.' Medical practice, supplies drugs and is in the pimping business. Mortal Stakes *'Frank Doerr.' Loan shark and gambler. *Wally Hogg, his bodyguard. *'Bucky Maynard.' Broadcaster and blackmailer. *Lester Floyd. Maynard's rude driver who tries to take on Spenser. Promised Land *'King Powers.' Loan shark, shylocking, numbers, prostitutes, motels, trucking, weapons. *Macey. King Power's enforcer. The Judas Goat *'Paul. '''Leader of the Liberty terrorist group which also includes *Antone, Big Nose, Fritz, Milo, Hans, Scarface and Zachary. *Two unnamed assassins & shooters Whiskers and Suck all at the London Hotel to wipe out Spenser. Looking for Rachel Wallace *'Lawrence English'. Kidnapper. A bigot. *Mingo Mulready, his strong-arm and chauffeur. *George and three buddies who Spenser sees off. *Manfred Roy. Another bigot. Early Autumn *'Harry Cotton'. A sleazy, grubby, major league crook. *Buddy Hartmann. Cotton's errand boy, Paul Giacomin's kidnapper. *Harold and Shelley. Cotton's strong-arms. *Richie Vega. He shakes down massage parlors. A Savage Place *'Peter Brewster.' Studio head and in organized crime. A killer. *'Leon Ponce'. A loan shark. *Franco (Francisco Montenegro). A strong-arm collector at the studios. *Bubba, his strong-arm and collector. *Ray Zifkind. A west coast rep. for the mob. *Little Joe Turcotte. Mob soldier. *Rollie Sims, mob enforcer. Ceremony *'Tony Marcus. Pimp for most of the prostitutes in town. *'''Mitchell Poitras. Photographs young girls; supplies them to pimps. *'Trumps'. A black pimp. *'Red', a pimp who employed April Kyle. *'Hal', negotiates with Poitras for girls. *Vince, a slugger who protects Hal. The Widening Gyre *Joe Broz. Local crook. He tries to train his son, Gerry. *'Gerry Broz'. He videotapes granny parties and blackmails the women. *Vinnie Morris. Joe Broz's right-hand man. *Eddie diBernardi. Vinnie Morris's companion. *Roger Francona. A Joe Broz strong-arm. *Pat Ricci & Sal Pelletier. Sluggers to harass politician, Meade Alexander. *Butch, Jimmy and Claude who participates in the granny parties for Gerry Broz. Valediction *Vinnie Morris. Joe Broz's man and always interested in Spenser's activities. *'Mickey Paultz'. He handles most of New England's heroin trade. *'Bullard Winston'. Church leader, drug runner, money launderer. *'Sherry Spellman'. She turns out to be a shooter. *Fat Willie and three shooters. A Catskill Eagle *'Jerry Costigan'. Arms business, trucking, air freight and hotels. *Warren, his bodyguard. *'Russell Costigan.' Executive V.P. in his father's operations. *'Leo'. San Francisco pimp who gets blown away. *Allie, Leo's bodyguard. *Richie Loo, out to kill Spenser. Taming a Sea Horse *'Mr. Milo'. A big, big-time crook. *Tony Marcus. The black pimp shows up again. *'Perry Lehman'. Club owner who provides porno pleasure. *Paulie & Curly. Lehman's strong-arms. *John Weatherwax. Aka Jacky Wax. He works for Mr. Milo. *'Robert Rambeaux'. A New York pimp. *Warren Whitfield.* Money launderer. *Daryl. He protects Tony Marcus. *Bernie. A strong-arm for Jacky Wax. *Art Floyd. He passes girls up the chain. Pale Kings and Princes *'Felipe Esteva.' He moves drugs with his farm produce. *Cesar & Felice. Esteva's strong-arms. *'Cliff Caracks' from Worcester, Mass. Did Hawk work for him once? Crimson Joy *'Gordon Felton.' Serial killer and Susan's patient, intent on killing her. *Tony Marcus, the black pimp. *Red, a weightlifter and four muscle men visit Spenser after his radio appearance. Playmates *Gerry Broz. Joe's son, makes a killing getting basketball star to shave points. *Jojo. His strong-arm. *'Bobby Deegan.' An associate of Gerry Broz. Brooklyn wise guy. *Blackbeard, Baseball Cap, Frankie & Leather Jacket. Deegan's strong-arms. *Harry Cotton, deceased, major league crook gets mentioned. Stardust *'Victor del Rio'. Racketeer with Hispanic connections. *Chollo. Del Rio's strong-arm. *Bobby Horse. Another strong-arm. *'Stanley Rojack,' developer. Jill Joyce asks his help to eliminate a nuisance. *Randall, Rojack's strong-arm. Pastime *Gerry Broz. Joe's son but not as good as his father. *Vinnie Morris. Joe Broz's executive officer. *Rich Beaumont. Gerry Broz's bagman. *Sluggo & Pompadour. Vinnie Morris's strong-arms. *Lucky, Maishe & Anthony. Gerry Broz's strong arms. Double Deuce *Tony Marcus. He supplies drugs now to the housing projects. *Billy, his bodyguard. *'Major Johnson.' Hobarts gang leader, drug supplier. *The Hobarts : Shoe, Honk, Goodyear, Moon-Man, Halfway, Hose X and Bobby High. *Whistle, a member of a female gang, The Crockettes. *Tallboy, member of The Dilliard Street Posse. *John Porter, legbreaker, murder suspect. *The Silks, another gang. Paper Doll *Edgar Grimes & Reilly O'Dell. Strong-arms from the Senator's office. *Joe Broz & Vinnie Morris are mentioned briefly. Walking Shadow *Lonnie Wu. Gang co-ordinator, immigrant smuggler, soldier for Kwang Chang. *'Uncle Eddie Lee'. Counselor to the Kwang Chang. *Yan. A Vietnamese shooter after Spenser. *Vinnie Morris, now freelance. Thin Air *'Freddie Santiago'. Godfather to most of Proctor. He wants all. *Julio, Baptiste & Tomás. His thugs. *'Luis Deleon'. Gang leader, kidnapper. *Ramon Gonzalez. Two-gun shooter, Deleon's No. 2. *Rico. A Deleon strong-arm. *Victor del Rio. Hispanic racketeer from Beverly Hills. *Chollo. Del Rio's strong-arm on loan to Spenser. *Bobby Horse, del Rio's strong-arm in L.A. *'Woody Pontevecchio', Lisa's pimp in 1985. Chance *'Julius Ventura'. An important local Boston thug. *Anthony Meeker. Money carrier, gambler, loser and married to Ventura's daughter. *Steve. Ventura's strong-arm. *Gino Fish. He has taken over Joe Broz's territory. *Vinnie Morris. Now working for Gino Fish. *'Marty Anaheim'. He wants all of the Boston territory. *Dukes, Big Guy & Paulie. Marty's Strong-arms. *Fast Eddie Lee. He has a part of Boston, too. *Tony Marcus. Now serving time. *Tarone Jessup. Minding Tony's business. *Chollo. Del Rio's strong-arm. Helping Spenser in L.A. *Joe Broz, aging and now a consultant to crooks. *Chuckie, a pimp in Bay Village. *Two Russian immigrants muscling in. Small Vices *Vinnie Morris, with Gino Fish. *'Bruce Parisi'. Loan shark. *'Rugar'. The Gray Man, stalks and shoots Spenser. *Beer Keg, Mackinow and two thugs, Parisi's men. *Chollo, briefly mentioned as a helper for Spenser. *Tony Marcus, just out of jail. *Gino Fish is mentioned as a Spenser contact. Sudden Mischief *'Brad Sterling.' Susan's ex, skimmer and killer. *'Haskell Wechsler.' Loan shark. *'Cony Brown.' Extortionist, freelance shooter, murderer. *Buster DeMilo. the fist for Wechsler. *Kenneth Philchock. DeMilo's sidekick, aka 'Shorty'. *Bullet & Fat Man. Defense lawyer Ronan's strong-arms. *Ty-Bop Tatum. A shooter for Marcus. *Junior. Extra large bodyguard for Marcus. *Tony Marcus, Joe Broz, Gino Fish, Fast Eddie Lee. Old crooks. Hush Money *'Amir Abdullah.' He was Dennis Crawford, professor. Blackmailer. *Chuck, aka Horn Rims, Milo Quant's security and five henchmen. Hugger Mugger *'Jon Delroy'. Ex-cop, extortionist, takes the rap for murder. *Vinnie Morris and Gino Fish, briefly mentioned. Potshot *'Morris Tannebaum.' Drugs, whores, numbers, venture capitalist. *Jerome Jefferson. Surfer, slugger for Tannebaum. *Tino. Shooter for Tannebaum. *Ronny. Tannebaum's strong-arm shooter. *Mary Lou Buckman. Water resources geologist who kills or has them killed. *'The Preacher. '''Gang organizer, collector, head of The Dell religious sect. *Moon Dog, Dappa & Pony, members of the sect, The Preacher's strong-arms. *Victor Del Rio. Hispanic racketeer from Beverly Hills. *Chollo. Del Rio's strong-arm. *Bobby Horse. Another del Rio strong arm. *Gino Fish. Has part of Boston. *Vinnie Morris. Gino Fish's man. Widow's Walk *'Felton Shawcross. ' CEO of Soldier's Field Development Ltd. and head of the conspiracy. *Jack DeRosa. Recruits local talent for Felton. *Curly Bo. Thug who tries to beat up Spenser. *Fatso. Partner of Bo. *Kevin McGonigle. Tries to kill Spenser. *Chuckie Scanlan. Thug, may have been driving car for Kevin. Back Story *Pale fingers. Works for Sonny or Ziggy, warns Spenser off the case. *Blond guy. Partner of pale fingers. *Harvey. Muscle for Sonny. *Vinnie Morris. Consultant on thugs for hire. *'Sonny Markovsky.' Took over Joe Broz's former territory. *Sigmund Czernak (Ziggy). Sonny's son-in-law, second in command. *Cheech. Muscle for Ziggy. *Harry. Muscle for Ziggy. *Ty-Bop Tatum and Junior. They protect Susan at Hawk's request. Bad Business *'Darrin O'Mara'''. Love advisor, white collar criminal and willing to have others killed. *Lance Devaney. Darrin's lover and shootist. Not included in the 186 total crook count. Potshot *Tedy Sapp who is watching Spenser's back as he did in Hugger Mugger. *Bernard Fortunato, a Las Vegas private investigator. Appeared in Chance. *J. George Taylor, Luther Barnes, Roscoe Land, Henry Brown, the four townspeople who are buying up property to make a bundle. *Forty or so members of The Dell sect other than those mentioned above. A Catskill Eagle * Security guards for the Costigans. Double Deuce The Hobarts, The Silks, The Dillard Street Posse and The Crockettes are gangs with an indeterminate number of members. Mortal Stakes, Playmates, Chance Lennie Seltzer, a bookie, who gives Spenser useful underworld information.